Jing Yuan hadn't expected Fu Xuan to be so useless after abandoning her divination abilities.
She was a person of some standing, after all. How could she have just fainted like that?
"Hey, Master Diviner, are you alright?"
Qingque was a little worried that something was wrong with Fu Xuan's head. Had she been beaten into a fool by that Preceptor from the Alchemy Commission?
"Qingque?! What are you doing here?"
Fu Xuan finally remembered who the familiar voice belonged to. It was Qingque, talking about herself slacking off.
"Sigh... looks like she's still not right in the head..." Qingque said with a heavy sigh.
"General, Dan Shu is going to destroy the Ambrosial Arbor! She's even holding a Stellaron! She's a madwoman right now, with no intention of surviving this! She's even become a Lord Ravager of the Ruin Author! She..."
Fu Xuan threw caution to the wind and blurted out everything she knew.
Jing Yuan nodded. "I know, I know. I know everything you're saying."
"I..." Fu Xuan's spirits were low. She said in a quiet voice, "If only I had been more decisive back then. If I had seized the initiative regarding the Alchemy Commission, it wouldn't have ended in such a mess."
Hearing this, Jing Yuan actually felt a sense of relief.
At least she hadn't said, 'If only my divination had been more accurate.'
Most of the time, the problem wasn't the result of her divination, but Fu Xuan's own failure to recognize the flaws in her actions. Not only did divination fail to help her understand her own situation, but it also kept her adrift in the river of fate, constantly on the verge of drowning.
"Don't be too disheartened. Things have reached this point, and we have no choice but to act."
Jing Yuan's thoughts were quite simple. He explained, "From my personal perspective, destroying the Ambrosial Arbor is indeed a good thing, but it cannot be done at this time. Especially not before the image the Alchemy Commission has built in the minds of the Xianzhou people—that they are researching the Arbor to cure the Mara-Struck—is shattered."
Hearing this, Fu Xuan's guilt and unease grew even stronger.
If she had decisively followed Noldrei's advice back then and seized control of the elixir recipes, the Six Charioteers wouldn't be in this predicament.
If the Six Charioteers had controlled the recipes, the situation would have been the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus destroying the Ambrosial Arbor, and thus, destroying the Xianzhou people's hope for the future.
But because they lost that initiative, the narrative became the 'Disciples of Sanctus Medicus' acting as followers of The Hunt, destroying the blessings of the Abundance. It was these followers of The Hunt's ideals who were destroying the Xianzhou people's hope of one day overcoming the Mara-Struck.
Losing the initiative first meant the 'Disciples of Sanctus Medicus' could carry out their large-scale destruction of the Ambrosial Arbor under the guise of believers of The Hunt.
As things stood now, Fu Xuan's one-step-too-late decision had indeed forced her to swallow this bitter pill.
"First, tell me about this Pure Land Sect. And tell me more about Dan Shu's explanation of it. There's a lot here I still don't know."
Jing Yuan didn't hold Fu Xuan accountable at this moment. After all, he was the one who had arranged for her to follow Noldrei in the first place.
The result was Noldrei infiltrating the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and throwing the entire situation into its current state of chaos.
"According to Dan Shu, there is a dualistic being, consisting of Maitreya and the Bright King."
"Maitreya represents the destruction of the present and the arrival of the future. Its purpose is to settle the accounts for the mistakes made by the people of this world. This event will serve as a catalyst to create a new, clean race, led by the Bright King into the Pure Land created by Yaoshi."
"After this cleansing, these people can cast off all oppression and suffering and re-establish the laws and morals of the world."
"The so-called Bright King is the one who can meet Yaoshi and receive the Pure Land from the Aeon."
After Fu Xuan finished her explanation, before Jing Yuan could even speak, Mr. Yang, who had come along as backup, was starting to lose his composure.
Why did this all sound so familiar?
March 7th also felt something was odd. From what she was hearing... it actually sounded like a good thing.
March 7th couldn't help but whisper to Stelle, "What does that 'cleansing' mean?"
Stelle thought for a moment. "Probably judging people for their crimes? Punishing those who've done wrong, and killing the bastards who've killed others, I guess."
March 7th exclaimed, "Well, that sounds pretty good, then."
Stelle hesitated for a moment before explaining, "Think about it. Their leader said the Ambrosial Arbor is one of the most important sources of medicine for the Xianzhou natives. If the Arbor is destroyed in this 'cleansing' because of its own problems, who's going to find the materials to treat the Xianzhou people?"
A lightbulb went off in March 7th's head. "Wait a minute, that's not right. The Ambrosial Arbor is just a thing. I don't think it's a criminal, so how can it be at fault? How can a thing be at fault? It must be the people using it who are in the wrong."
Jing Yuan gave a wry smile upon hearing this.
It was just like the Xianzhou's eternal hunt for the Abominations of Abundance. The so-called curse of long life and the troubles brought by Yaoshi's blessings were, in reality, all caused by the Xianzhou people's unwillingness to give up the Ambrosial Arbor.
If they truly thought it was nothing but trouble, they would have cut it off and thrown it away long ago.
The reason they kept it was because every aspect of the Xianzhou was inseparable from the Arbor.
It was debatable whether the Xianzhou people would be better off without the Arbor, but they would certainly face major problems in all aspects of their interstellar technology.
Dan Shu's actions were tantamount to putting the entire Six Charioteers on the spot.
You say the blessings of the Abundance are a curse?
Fine! Then I'll destroy it completely! Why are you trying to stop me from getting rid of a disaster?
The Xianzhou's long-standing propaganda regarding the blessings of the Abundance had led to the current divisive crisis.
As the General, Jing Yuan had nothing more to say. This was the direction he had set for his administration, and he would certainly have to take responsibility for it in the future.
Mr. Yang had only just arrived at the brink of the crisis, but he could already feel the turbulent undercurrents of division within the Xianzhou.
'Trouble, this is big trouble...'
The thought of being at the center of such a conflict made Mr. Yang feel like he'd been tricked.
'No wonder even the Stellaron Hunters don't dare to act rashly.'
Jing Yuan's biggest problem now was the vast, sea-like chasm that lay before the Scalegorge Waterscape.
"The problem now is that we have no way to cross. We can only watch as Dan Shu hacks away at the Ambrosial Arbor on the other side."
Fu Xuan knew about this 'sea,' but the blow she had suffered was too great. It was as if she had been dragged down from the heavens and thrown to the ground to become a roadside beggar.
Her mind was consumed with thoughts of why she hadn't chosen the most advantageous option back then. Her head was a chaotic mess, leaving her with no will to consider how to solve the problem before them.
Qingque gently poked Fu Xuan's shoulder. She used about thirty percent of her strength and saw that Fu Xuan remained in her dazed state, showing no signs of life.
'Wow, was the blow really that devastating?'